Customer Reviews

A Season for Miracles - Hallmark Hall Of Fame [VHS]

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This has already become one of my favourite Christmas movies and I just bought it the other day! It's a wonderful family film and as usual Hallmark has put out an outstanding production. Anyone who loves touching Christmas movies with a romantic story line will find this one hard to pass by. The touching scenes are combined with great humour to create a very enjoyable movie. The acting is superb by all the cast. Patty Duke is the angel and is charming in her role. The movie is based on the novel by Marilyn Pappano.

Emilie Thompson, played by Carla Gugino, is an aunt who wants to keep custody of her niece and nephew. Their mother, her sister, is a drug addict and is in jail. The opening scene shows Emilie and the children going to see her in the hospital because she had a drug overdose. A Children's Aid worker meets them there and tells Emilie she will put them in foster care immediately, because Emilie does not have a way of supporting the children. Emilie leaves with the children and starts on a journey to try to keep them together. They wind up in Bethlehem, USA and I love the line in which Emilie says, "We can't be THAT lost!" With direction from the angel, they wind up staying in an abandoned house in the community and find themselves holding up a facade.

In an amusing turn of events, while trying to escape the law, Emilie falls in love with the town police officer, Nathan Blair. David Conrad is really good in this role, and portrays the perfect man who is VERY handsome, sensitive, good with children, etc. In fact if most women don't "fall in love" with him while watching this movie, I would be very much surprised.

The lies Emilie has told in order to keep the family together, catch up with her on Christmas Eve and create a true test to the love that has developed between her & the children and Nathan.

There are some good messages to learn from the story about the importance of family and the fact that Anything is Possible.

My only disappointment is that it is presently not available on DVD. Hopefully that changes soon.

Season For Miracles was produced as a Hallmark holiday production last December. It proved to be a wonderful story that can be enjoyed at any time, not only at the holidays. As usual with any Hallmark offering, the production qualities are excellent. It is based on the book by Marilyn Pappano, but the video version far surpasses the book version. The changes in the film script make it a much more appealing story.

When social worker (Kathy Baker) decides to place two children in foster homes because their mother is in jail for drug abuse, their devoted aunt (Carla Gugino) flees with them in a delapidated car. They end up in a town named Bethleham at holiday time when the car breaks down. A mysterious lady (who shows up whenever a special need arrives) sends the trio to an unoccupied house. The next morning the townspeople mistake them for the home's missing heirs. What happens after this makes for a truly heart warming tale.

The cast is filled with excellent actresses - Kathy Baker, Laura Dern, Patty Duke Lynn Redgrave and Faith Prince. Not since "Steel Magnolias" have veteran actresses come together for an uplifting story like this. Lynn Redgrave is the judge who saves the day and it is worth getting the video for her performance alone. But each of the performers is outstanding. Carla Gugino may not be a big name right now, but she proves that great things can be expected in the future. Each of the supporting roles are similarily performed by top notch "character" people.

The version I have also contains a "making of" featurette with interviews by the director and 4 of the leading ladies. It is a fascinating behind the scenes look at this magical story.

I have watched it a number of times since the holidays and enjoyed it more each time. I only hope that it will soon be released in DVD as well as the tape.

As an avid Christmas movie-aholic I found this one made me feel good. A woman runs off with her prison-bound sister's kids and ends up in the town of Bethleham (in the USA). With no money and a broken down car they take up residence in a long empty house that is awaiting the deceased owner's heir. Emilie is mistaken as the heir and doesn't correct the townpeoples assumption. The "Miracle" is when the children find a normal life and find out that "anything is possible". If you like feel good movies and putting the tissue box to use, get this one.

This movie is fulled of miracles! It's so sweet! All I have to say is buy it! It's about two young children who are to be taken into foster care after their "druggy" mother is put into a "jail." The children's young and spirited aunt desides she isn't going to let them be taken away. That's when the adventure (and the romance begins)!

I chanced upon this beautiful Hallmark television movie last Christmas and I must say it has now really become one of my favourite pieces of viewing over the Christmas period. Watching it again last night I could see again why I was so impressed by it last year. A simple story of love, caring and the basic decency of people, "A Season For Miracles", deserves to be better known among all the seasonal offerings when it is so perfect for this time of the year. Sentimental it may be a times but I see nothing wrong with that and the excellent performances by all the cast make it superb viewing at that time of year when our thoughts turn to our loved ones and others that we care about.

For such a sensitive movie "A Season For Miracles", actually begins with a hard edge to it as we are introduced to the main characters and the situations they have found themselves in. Berry Thompson (Laura Dern), finds herself held under arrest in a district hospital on drug related charges. Her sister Emilie (Carla Gugino), finds herself in charge of Berry's two young children Alanna (Mae Whitman), and J.T. (Evan Sabara). Threatened with having the children placed in foster care, on an impulse Emilie collects them up and drives off with no plan as to what to do or where to go. Driving with no destination in sight the trio end up in the small town of Bethlehem where they stop at a diner run by a mysterious lady (Patty Duke),who directs them to a large empty house in the centre of town where they will be able to stay the night. Once settled into the house a series of amazing events or "miracles", occur where Emilie and the children are mistaken for the heirs to the empty house and the townsfolk including neighbours Agatha (Mary Fogarty), and Corrina (Mary Louise Wilson), and especially the local policeman Nathan (David Conrad), take the family to their hearts. As a growing attraction develops between Nathan and Emilie it gets harder for Emilie to leave the temporary home they have found. Even the children begin to open up and come back to life in the caring environment they find in Bethlehem. Meanwhile of course the authorities have put out a warrant for Emilie's arrest on a charge of kidnapping. The "miracles", however continue to happen when Emilie's name, courtesy of the mysterious woman (Patty Duke), suddenly turns up on the deed of the property. As Christmas approaches the children for the first time see the love of real people in their lives and Emilie herself anxious that they should experience a proper Christmas also sees the unselfish love and kindness that Nathan is offering her. On Christmas Eve however at the Police Christmas Party a fax arrives which reveals Emilie's real identity and the truth comes rolling out. At first angry about the deception Nathan himself learns something about love and caring when he sees the genuine love Emilie has for the children and realises that breaking up this family would be the worst scenerio possible. At the late night court case presided over by Judge Jakes (Lynn Redgrave), he comes out in defence of Emilie and her actions and proposes marriage to her. The pair then plan a future together which was only possible by the guidance of the "mysterious woman" (Patty Duke), who in fact was a guardian angel sent to look after Emilie and the children and to prove well and truly that "Anything is possible".

"A Season for Miracles", is one of those very touching Christmas efforts that only come along quite rarely. Surprisingly it doesn't seem to be aired very much at Christmas but really it's uplifting story is suitable for screening any time of the year. Performances here are all first rate in particular the work of Carla Gugino as Emilie and David Conrad as Police Officer Nathan. They really make the perfect couple and team incredibly well. Carla Gugino does very well in displaying her dilemma of having found it seems the perfect world and the perfect man yet all the time knowing it's not real and liable to fall apart at any time. David Conrad's character to me represents the very best qualities that humans possess and in a way he is the true spirit of everything that is so good about the Christmas season. He makes a highly likeable male lead in this story and he is aided greatly by Mary Fogarty and Mary Louise Wilson as elderly sisters who literally adapt Emilie and the children. The idea of having veteran actress Patty Duke who is a great favourite of mine, play an angel was a casting stroke of genius and she makes the most of her scenes where she seems to "turn up", at just the right moment in order to protect Emilie and the children from possible harm. As is typical of a Hallmark Production the look and feel of "A Season for Miracles", is first class from the setting in the beautiful town of Bethlehem, with its caring townsfolk and their warm welcoming of the three strangers, right through to the Christmas decorations, snow, and the protective presense of Patty Duke's Guardian Angel which all really bolster the feeling of Christmas and goodwill to all men. In short this is the perfect movie for this time of the year.

"A Season for Miracles", really is a terrific modern Christmas story and I hope you are able to enjoy this film at some time over the Christmas period. As an affirmation of the good that is in people and how strangers came often be of great help and comfort to other strangers it makes unsurpassed entertainment. It never fails to move me and with each screening gives me hope of a better world if we just try and adapt some of the qualities that seem in such abundance in the little town of Bethlehem where indeed "anything is possible". Enjoy

This is one (affirmative) family movie that will keep you on the edge of your seat on the first viewing. Will they be caught? Will the children be taken away from their aunt and given into the care of strangers? The fact that the man interested in the aunt is the local police captain adds to the tension. The resolution is credible and miraculous only for those who believe that nothing good ever happens.

This movie does a good job of presenting life in a small town without turning the town into a make-believe toy town, as so many Disney movies do. And the children are real and believable without being brats. Moviemakers who think that children have to be brats in order to be real should watch this movie.

If you like this movie, see the Little House on the Prairie series (if you haven't already). Also, Mary Christmas. Also, A Thanksgiving Miracle. All of these will lift your spirits and make you feel at home.

This is one of those movies you will sit down and watch again with your family (maybe at Christmas) I would recommend this movie to anyone it can be watched by the whole family, rare these days.

I LOVE THIS MOVIE,AND DESIRE TO REPLACE OUR VHS COPY TO DVD.WE WATCH IT ALL YEAR LONG,THOUGH IT IS A CHRISTMAS MOVIE.I LOVE ALL OF THE CAST.AND I LOVE THE FEELING THAT IT LEAVES ME WITH,AND WILL HAVE THIS ON MY CHRISTMAS SHOPPING LIST FOR FAMILY AND FRIENDS.

Any family story "gets me" and this is one of the sweeter ones.
I enjoyed seing it again and I am glad now that I have my own copy and I can enjoy it whenever I choose. Delivery was timely and packaging was professionally done.
Thank you.

I had already seen this movie on the Hallmark channel, so I knew what to expect. It's an excellent, engaging Christmas movie with humor, suspense, and a strong commitment to family obligations. I discovered it doesn't follow the book precisely (2 vs 3 kids; Nathan Bishop's background is more developed in the book; the antagonist in the movie (social worker) seems much more determined to "get" Emelie and take the kids back).

The video was a brand new product, and I was willing to pay slightly more for that than to purchase a video store rental product. The video arrived less than a week after I had purchased it.

Overall, I was very satisfied with my purchase.